BPP launches Call for inclusive Businesses to improve Livelihoods and create Opportunities in Fiji

Deadline: 8-Dec-20

Are you an inclusive business? Do you have a commercial idea that could help Fiji to build back better? If yes, then this opportunity is for you!

Through the Business Partnerships Platform (BPP), the Australian Government is calling for inclusive business partnerships to help improve livelihoods, create opportunities for women and recover from the impacts of COVID-19.

While women in Fiji are especially affected by the impacts of COVID-19, they are also well placed to drive economic recovery. Businesses are constrained during these challenging times but there are growth opportunities that can drive both business growth and create meaningful social impact.

Impacts may take the form of job creation for women, skills development for women in business, income generating opportunities for women suppliers, or opening new market opportunities for women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses.

The Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) supports partnerships between the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and inclusive businesses to create both development impacts and sustainable commercial returns through their core business operations.
BPP partnerships can create sustainable impact by:

Creating new products and services for existing or new markets which better serve the needs of consumers and communities.
Improving the productivity, inclusivity, or sustainability of value chains.
Supporting the adoption of inclusive business practices at scale.

Businesses partnering with DFAT under the BPP may assist the Australian Government to meet development program objectives through:

Business insights and ideas to tackle the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 recovery.
Private sector efficiencies, innovation and ingenuity.
Finance to leverage development program funding to achieve greater impact at scale.

Focus Areas

In Fiji, the BPP is inviting applications from businesses that wish to partner with the Australian government in the following high-potential areas:

Digital and e-commerce platforms that promote commercial opportunities and enable the increased participation of women as consumers, suppliers or producers. They are particularly interested in ideas that provide business linkages and positive impacts for women in the informal sector.
Firms offering business services (B2B) that can create new jobs or upskilling opportunities for women.

Funding Information

The level of funding that may be requested and granted under the BPP will be between AUD 100,000 and AUD 500,000 per successful application.
Proposed initiatives may be funded for one to three years, subject to continued achievement of partnership milestones.

The BPP will assist Australian and overseas organisations to invest in new business approaches to partnering that support economic recovery and deliver on social and commercial outcomes. BPP can provide partners with access to DFAT’s resources, including:

Convening, brokering, networks and influence in partner countries.
Deep knowledge of development as well as the business, political and regulatory environment in partner countries.
Expertise in development program management, safeguards, and gender and disability inclusion.
Support in creating a more attractive business operating environment through its broader policy reform and governance programs.
Catalytic funding to encourage and support businesses and other organisations looking to increase commercial and social returns in line with the Australian development program’s strategic priorities.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are open to businesses or other types of organisations undertaking, or looking to undertake, an initiative of a commercial nature in one of the eligible sectors in one of the participating countries.
- Applicant organisations may be businesses or social enterprises, who may choose to apply in consortiums with other businesses, investors, social enterprises, non-government organisations (NGOs), not-for-profit organisations (NFPs), cooperatives, universities, or other types of organisations.
- Applicant organisations do not need to originate from any specific country.
- Applicant organisations must be able to operate in the country where they propose to undertake the BPP initiative.
More than one organisation may be involved in a single application. Joint applications are not mandatory. However, applicants may consider this approach as in some cases it may support a diverse technical, knowledge and risk management proposition
Applications must be made by established organisations that meet (or are able to meet) the requirements of DFAT’s due diligence process, including:
- Registration with a business or other recognised registration/accreditation body;
- Established financial history;
- Not listed on sanctions lists, including those published by the Australian Government, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, or the Inter-American Development Bank;
- Other background criminal and reputational checks.
The BPP reserves the right to reassess any proposal if, following submission, the membership of a successful multiple partner proposal changes, including partners withdrawing from the partnership.